• National Parks and Wildlife Foundation
  • National Parks and Wildlife Foundation
  • National Parks and Wildlife Foundation
  • National Parks and Wildlife Foundation
  • National Parks and Wildlife Foundation

Backyard Buddies: Skinks - the Lizard of Oz

01 Nov 2011

100x100skinkNow that spring has sprung, tribes of sleek-bodied mini-hunters are soaking up the rays and stalking pests in your garden.

Garden Skinks are commonly seen backyard buddies, but did you know that they’re one of nature’s pest controllers and help to keep your garden healthy by keeping insects at bay?

Backyard Buddies is a free program run by Australia’s Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. Each month, you get a Backyard Buddies email (B-mail) with tips to make your backyard inviting and safe for native animals. Skinks featured in November B-mail. Sign up for B-mail and download a free factsheet about skinks at www.backyardbuddies.net.au.

“Rejoice if you spot sun-loving skinks in your backyard,” said Mr Steve Corbett, CEO of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. “They eat up all the cockroaches, moths, crickets, and insect larvae they can find.”

“Almost every Australian garden is home to skinks, but due to their timid nature and quick reflexes, you may only ever see them dashing for cover as you approach. To really get a good look at a skink, find a comfortable spot where you usually see them ducking for cover, sit quietly and they may eventually emerge. They’re quite curious about us too.”

“Skinks are lovely creatures with clear dark eyes, ever watchful of danger. Their bodies are covered in smooth shining scales like armour, often shimmering bronze or dark grey, and their tiny mouths occasionally hide a brightly coloured tongue.”

Tips to encourage skinks in your backyard:

  • Let plenty of leaf mulch accumulate on your garden beds – this provides an ideal location for skinks to feed.
  • Restore a skink nest if you disturb it while digging up the garden. Skink eggs look like tiny chicken eggs but they are soft and rubbery!
  • Lean a small stick in any water bowl or ornamental pond so that any skinks can escape if they fall in.
  • Keep your pets indoors as a single cat can be responsible for thousands of skink deaths per year.
  • Avoid using pesticides as a skink can be poisoned if it eats a contaminated insect.
  • Include rocks and logs in your garden for skinks to sun themselves on and hide under.
  • If you find a skink in your house, try to gently catch it and return it to the garden.

“You may think that the humble skink is fairly ordinary, but they get up to a lot of strange and very interesting behaviour,” said Mr Corbett.

“At least one species of Australian Skink—the Black Rock Skinks of the Blue Mountains—lives in nuclear and single-parent families just like humans. One or both skink parents stay with their young and live together as a family unit, helping each other out.”

“Skinks also have a cunning survival tactic to foil predators. When pursued by an attacker like a bird or a cat, a skink has pre-weakened points in its tail vertebrae which can easily be severed when grabbed or when the skink is terrified. The freshly broken tail wriggles and twists wildly, distracting the predator while the lucky skink slips away to freedom,” Mr Corbett said.

“A skink can regrow its tail in a few months, but it costs it a lot of energy. Sometimes, if the tail is damaged but doesn’t come off, a new tail can grow from the injury—resulting in a fork tailed skink! And this can happen multiple times. Some skinks have been found with five tails.”

“Now that the weather is heating up, get ready for a good old rumble in the leaf litter jungle of your garden. Spring is prime time for skink males to attack, wrestle and fight other male skinks as they secure their territories,” said Mr Corbett.

“You may even see a number of skinks all locked together in a tangle, holding each other down tooth and nail, none of them able to get away. This is thought to be a kind of territorial behaviour as well.”

“With nearly 400 species in the skink family, Scincidae, living all over Australia you’re sure to spot some amazing skinks this spring. Take some time to enjoy them as they go about their business keeping your garden cockroach free.”

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